By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterWednesday night wasn’t at all pretty for the first-place Texas Rangers, who blew a four-run lead in the ninth to lose at Yankee Stadium. But the ratings again were pretty gorgeous for Fox Sports Southwest.

Rangers-Yankees led all prime-time programming with 205,390 D-FW viewers and 73,041 in the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Masterchef was runner-up in total viewers with 155,813 while CBS’ 7 p.m. attraction, Big Brother, ran second among 18-to-49-year-olds (66,690).

On Tuesday night, NBC’s 8 to 10 p.m. edition of its summertime juggernaut, America’s Got Talent, pushed Rangers-Yankees into second place with total viewers by a score of 254,966 to 198,307. But the Rangers tied Fox’s 8 p.m. episode of Coupled for the most 18-to-49-year-olds (57,163 apiece).

Monday’s Game 1 of the Rangers-Yankees series, divided by a more than a three-and-a-half-hour rain delay, nonetheless had overall higher numbers than competing prime-time programming. Before the delay, the game hit high points between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m. in total viewers (269,131) and 9:30 to 9:45 p.m. in the 18-to-49 realm (120,677).

The game resumed around 1:15 a.m., with the Rangers rallying for four runs in the ninth to win 9-6. At that hour, 28,330 total viewers were still on hand -- or sleeping somewhere with the TV still on. More than half of them -- 15,879 -- were in the 18-to-49 age range.

Here are the local news derby results for Monday-Wednesday:

Monday -- NBC5 took the top spots at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 as usual swept the 6 a.m. competitions.

At 6 p.m., Fox4 and NBC5 tied for the most total viewers but the Peacock won outright among 25-to-54-year-olds. It was the same story at 5 p.m., with the two stations tying for first in total viewers but NBC5 alone atop the 25-to-54 heap.

Tuesday -- NBC5 reigned as the overall lion king, ruling at 6 and 10 p.m. in both ratings measurements and also drawing the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and also had the most total viewers at 5 p.m.

Fox4 again had twin wins at 6 a.m. while NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and the Peacock among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Meanwhile, it’s getting to be a long drought for CBS11. The station hasn’t won outright in any of the four-way local newscast competitions since Wednesday, June 15th, when it drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterABC’s Sunday night lineup of fun ’n’ games rang the ratings bell while the Texas Rangers dominated the Friday and Saturday prime-time Nielsen numbers.

The Season 2 premiere of Celebrity Family Feud won the 7 to 8 p.m. hour with 198,397 D-FW viewers before the reboot debuts of The 100,000 Pyramid (169,978 viewers) and The Match Game (also 169,978) likewise controlled the 8 to 10 p.m. slot.

Feud stumbled a bit with advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, running second to CBS’ competing Big Brother by a score of 69,865 to 53,987 viewers. But both Pyramid and Match Game (57,163 viewers apiece) both easily won in this key demographic from 8 to 10 p.m. in competition among the Big Four broadcast networks.

Earlier Sunday, the Rangers’ day game win over the visiting Boston Red Sox averaged 226,637 total viewers and 92,095 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Rangers-Red Sox also beat all competing prime-time programming on both Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s game, in which the first-place Rangers blew a 6-0 lead to lost 8-7, had 191,225 total viewers and 82,568 in the 18-to-49 realm. Saturday night’s win over Boston, with a late 8:20 p.m. start to contractually accommodate the Fox network’s nationally televised game of the week, had respective totals of 177,060 and 69,865 viewers.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

Two stations split all the spoils.

Fox4 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming) and also swept the 6 a.m. competitions.

NBC5 had twin wins at 5 and 6 p.m.

D-FW NEWS NOTE -- Melissa Harrison, who had been freelancing for Fort Worth-based NBC5 since late last year, has been hired by KRLD radio (1080 AM) to join the station’s weekday morning drive team.

Starting July 1st, she’ll team with incumbents Scott Sams and Mike Rogers. Harrison is a Baylor University graduate who also has a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University. From 2000 to 2004, she worked as a reporter for Dallas-based TEGNA8.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on Twitter With the Dallas Mavericks waiting until deep into the night to make their only pick, the 2016 NBA draft slogged along with little ratings impact Thursday night on ESPN.

The Rajon Rondo-spiked lowly No. 46 pick in Round 2 didn’t come until 10:44 p.m. for the Mavs, who selected 7-foot Purdue center A.J. Hammons. From 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. -- Nielsen Media Research measures in 15-minute increments -- the draft had 28,330 D-FW viewers and 12,703 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. Overall, the entire draft averaged 56,659 total viewers and 28,581 in the 18-to-49 realm.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterFox Sports Southwest continues to enjoy itself this summer, with the first-place Texas Rangers again beating the best the Big Four networks have to offer.

The North Texas Nine started another winning streak Wednesday night by beating the lowly visiting Cincinnati Reds 6-4. The game led all programming in both total viewers (198,307) and advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-olds (76,217). And starting Friday night, the marquee Boston Red Sox and “Big Papi” come to town. It will only get better ratings-wise.

Except for ABC, the Big Four Broadcast networks weren’t just throwing reruns out there. CBS and Fox had all-new lineups and NBC offered a new episode of The Night Shift at 9 p.m.

Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Masterchef ran a distant second in total viewers with 127,483 while CBS’ 7 to 9 p.m. edition of Big Brother was the runner-up among 18-to-49-year-olds (53,987).

CBS’ 9 p.m. premiere of the murder mystery drama series American Gothic limped in with 63,742 total viewers and 19,054 in the 18-to-49 age range. It outdrew only ABC’s competing comedy reruns at that hour.

Here are Wednesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 swept the 10 p.m. competitions for the second weeknight in a row with wins in total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. NBC5 ran the table at 6 p.m. and won in total viewers at 5 p.m. Fox4 and NBC5 shared the 5 p.m. lead with 25-to-54-year-olds.

AGT drew 325,790 D-FW viewers and also had the most advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds (88,920). M&M dropped off sharply but still had enough ratings juice to run second at 9 p.m. in total viewers (134,566) behind CBS’ competing Person of Interest (155,813) while winning its time slot among the Big Four broadcast networks in the key 18-to-49 demographic (34,933 viewers).

ABC’s pair of Uncle Buck episodes tied for second from 8 to 9 p.m. in total viewers and had the runner-up slot to itself among 18-to-49-year-olds. From 9 to 10 p.m., ABC’s two editions of its rebooted To Tell the Truth fell to fourth place in both ratings measurements.

On Fox Sports Southwest, the first-place Texas Rangers fell behind early and had their seven-game winning streak snapped by the visiting Cincinnati Reds, who won 8-2. Rangers-Reds averaged 155,813 total viewers and 57,163 in the 18-to-49 age range. Overall, that made the game Tuesday’s No. 2 prime-time attraction behind AGT.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 ranked No. 1 at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and also ran the table at 5 p.m. NBC5 then scored with twin wins at 6 p.m.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterSunday’s tacked-on and typically contentious “super-sized” Real Housewives of Dallas reunion show otherwise went quietly -- as usual -- in the national Nielsen ratings.

Bolstered by a lead-in audience of 1,255,000 from Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset, RHOD dipped to 835,000 viewers and just 346,000 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic.

In the latter key measurement, that knocked RHOD out of the Sunday cable universe’s top-rated 100 programs compiled by tvbythenumbers. Its number of total viewers was the least since Episode 5 hit a season low of 789,000. The Sunday performance in total viewers knocked RHOD to 85th place among all cable shows telecast in daytime or nighttime hours.

It actually gets worse. Sunday night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals had more total viewers in D-FW alone -- 906,547 -- than RHOD did nationally. The Finals also thumped RHOD in the 18-to-49 measurement with 476,355 in just D-FW. That’s 128,355 more than RHOD had nationally.

RHOD’s chances for a Season 2, after averaging the least viewers of all nine Real Housewives series to date, also weren’t helped by the performance of Monday night’s Season 11 launch of the flagship Real Housewives of Orange County. It had 1,715,000 total viewers, more than twice the number for RHOD’s reunion show. Orange County also more than doubled RHOD’s haul of 18-to-49-year-olds.

The not so chummy, 85-minute reunion show, was hosted in a New York studio by Andy Cohen, the reliably cheeky executive producer of the Housewives franchise. It initially featured copious weeping by the usually haughty and self-assured Cary Deuber, who resented being branded a home wrecker in gossip spread by the hypertensive LeeAnne Locken.

Deuber’s plastic surgeon husband Mark joined her onstage. And when he animatedly upbraided Locken, she asked him if he needed a tampon. The two women ultimately hugged at Locken’s insistence after Deuber briefly walked off the set in tears.

Brandi Redmond, the “Jesus Juice” swilling former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, revealed that the “Christian” school that enrolled her two pre-teen children had booted them out after witnessing their mom’s comportment during RHOD. This included a drunken outing at a male strip club, during which Redmond took the stage, and another besotted display during an Austin getaway, with Redmond ultimately passing out. The show also jeopardized her marriage, but it’s all good for now, she claimed.

“Friend” Marie Reyes also took a seat for a while, and was verbally flogged by several of the Housewives, most notably Tiffany Hendra, for being a lying backstabber.

Cohen closed things out by praising the cast for their participation in a “great season.” But he didn’t announce a Season 2 renewal, which seems iffy at best and likely would include some cast changes. There were 10 episodes in Season One, plus the reunion outing. Only the premiere slipped past the one million viewer mark before rejection kicked in and sent RHOD on a path toward likely cancellation rather than any return engagement.

Sources confirm to unclebarky.com that Mike Castellucci is ending his second tour with the station and taking a college teaching position in Michigan. Castellucci so far hasn’t responded to messages asking for more details, but he has given station management notice of his departure.

Castellucci later told the national industry site TV Spy that he’ll be joining Michigan State University as the school’s Professor of Practice.

“I’m really thrilled that Michigan State has noticed the innovation in my work and invited me to take a leadership position as they produce the industry’s next generation of storytellers,” he added.

(Castellucci now claims to have emailed an identical response simultaneously to unclebarky.com, which broke the story before TV Spy picked it up the following day. But no such response has been received. He was asked to re-send it, but hasn’t. Unclebarky.com initially held the story of his departure for a day while fruitlessly waiting for any reply from Castellucci.)

The former “Why Guy,” who has won 20 Emmys and an Edward R. Murrow award over the years, first joined TEGNA8 in 2003 and spent five years at the station before leaving for San Diego’s KUSI-TV in 2008. He returned to TEGNA8 in the summer of 2013 and began co-hosting the homegrown Good Morning Texas program. Earlier this year, he stepped away from GMT and returned full-time to the reporting staff.

In recent years, Castellucci has become known nationally and internationally for his Phoning It In specials, which he shoots entirely on his iPhone while also producing, editing and writing them.

“Cameras change, editing tools evolve, but one of the most important aspects of this business must never change -- good storytelling,” Castellucci says on his personal website. “My goal is to air stories with poignancy and often humor, inspirational and unique stories. I like to call them snapshots for the human condition.”

Management at TEGNA8, following recent corporate buyouts of conventional photographers and editors, is requiring anchors and reporters to become adept at shooting their own material. Castellucci, who initially joined TEGNA8 from KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, is the walking/talking embodiment of that future. His first TV news job was at a station in Grand Junction, Colorado.

The 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles also tied for second overall among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds with NBC’s Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge (79,393 viewers apiece). But it did beat Spartan head-to-head in the 9 p.m. hour. NBC’s two-hour American Ninja Warrior led all programming with 95,271 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range.

CBS’ second episode of BrainDead came up comatose at 9 p.m. with 63,742 total viewers and nearly “hashmarks” (no measurable audience) among 18-to-49-year-olds. In that key demographic, it drew 1,270 viewers in a market of 3.18 million of ‘em. Wow.

The new Fox series Houdini & Doyle fared even worse at 8 p.m. in total viewers (35,412). But 9,527 of them were 18-to-49-year-olds. Still lousy, but a Colossus compared to BrainDead.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 drew the most total viewers at 10 p.m., while Fox4 ran first with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at both 5 and 6 p.m.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterABC’s lone remaining pro championship series is something the network might want to pay anything it takes to keep.

Sunday night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals, capped by the Cleveland Cavaliers’ history-making 93-89 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors, went ballistic in the D-FW Nielsen ratings.

Averaging more than 900,000 viewers with a peak crowd comparable to your typical Dallas Cowboys game, Cavs-Warriors soared past the Game 1 high mark of 517,015 viewers. Running from 7:11 to 9:37 p.m., Game 7 had 906,547 viewers and hit a high mark of 1,288,997 in the closing minutes. The Cavs became the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals while giving Cleveland its first pro championship since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Cavs-Warriors averaged 476,355 viewers to crush the previous Game1 mark of 288,989. Even more astounding, the number of 18-to-49-year-olds for Game 7 was greater than the total audience for either Games 3, 4 or 6. The peak number of 18-to-49-year-olds -- 673,248 -- also came during Game 7’s closing minutes.

Last June’s NBA Finals, which the Warriors won over the Cavs in six games, drew 523,050 viewers and 277,534 in the 18-to-49 age range for the climactic game.

Fox’s Sunday coverage of the U.S. Open’s final round, with Dallasite Jordan Spieth far out of contention, peaked at 325,790 total viewers between 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. Its largest 18-to-49 audience -- 127,028 -- came between 6:30 and 7 p.m.

Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers completed their sweep at St. Louis and averaged 155,813 total viewers opposite the U.S. Open.

Saturday’s Rangers-Cards game, on Fox Sports 1, had 141,648 total viewers to outdraw the U.S. Open’s average of 92,071, with a small-sized high point of 106,236 viewers.

On Friday, the Rangers’ prime-time game on FSS led all of that day’s programming with 191,225 total viewers.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

Two stations split the spoils.

Fox4 ran first at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming). The stations also won at 6 a.m. in total viewers.

NBC5 nipped Fox4 for the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 6 a.m. and swept the 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterABC cruised to another easy prime-time win with Game 6 of the NBA Finals, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won to force a Sunday night Game 7 against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

But the numbers fell well short of previous totals. The Cavs’ 115 to 101 win, which stretched to 10:46 p.m., averaged 474,521 D-FW viewers and 219,123 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.

The total viewers mark came up short of Game 1 (517,015), Game 2 (488,686) and Game 5 (495,768). And among 18-to-49-year-olds, Game 6 outdrew only Game 3 (196,893). Game 1 still holds the series’ high in this key demographic, with 288,989 viewers in the 18-to-49 realm.

NBC paid the biggest price opposite Thursday night’s Game 6. The Peacock’s two-hour return of the Charles Manson-themed Aquarius had just 49,577 total viewers and a sub-piddling 9,527 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Fox’s 8 p.m. Season 2 premiere of Home Free, with Tim Tebow as a new host, also deconstructed with 70,824 total viewers and 19,054 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, which led with heavy coverage of Donald Trump’s rally in Dallas, fared best opposite the Finals with 177,060 total viewers and 57,163 in the 18-to-49 measurement.

Over on Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ Colby Lewis had a no-hitter going into the ninth inning against Oakland before winning 5-1 and giving up two hits. Airing from mid-afternoon to early evening, the game averaged 113,318 total viewers with a peak crowd of 205,390 as the drama built.

On a rerun-pocked Wednesday night, CBS’ repeats of Criminal Minds and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders led the prime-time parade in total viewers with 148,730 apiece. Fox’sMasterchef fared best in the 18-to-49 realm with 44,460 viewers.

Here are the Wednesday and Thursday local news derby results.

Wednesday -- CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 led with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Otherwise it was all NBC5, whose newscasts swept the 6 a.m. and 5 and 6 p.m. competitions.

Thursday -- ABC’s NBA Finals run-over made it a three-way competition at 10 p.m. NBC5 and CBS11 shared the lead in total viewers while the Peacock and Fox4 tied for the top spot among 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and NBC5 ran the table at 5 p.m. The Peacock and TEGNA8 tied for the most total viewers at 6 p.m., but NBC5 won outright with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4’s 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts were rubbed out by the Fox network’s U.S. Open golf tournament coverage.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterABC went wall-to-wall retro Tuesday night with two hours of To Tell the Truth sandwiched around a pair of Uncle Buck episodes.

Both were new versions of TV/movie oldies while NBC punched in with two hours of its potent America’s Got Talent.

As expected, Talent won out, controlling the 7 to 9 p.m. slot with 233,719 D-FW viewers. Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, Talent and Fox’s Hotel Hell tied for first in the 7 p.m. hour with 53,987 viewers apiece before Talent’s second hour pounded all comers with 66,690 viewers in this key demographic.

The 7 to 8 p.m. hour of Truth had 141,648 total viewers to finish behind both Talent and CBS’ NCIS rerun (155,813). Buck likewise ran third from 8 to 9 p.m. with 113,318 viewers before the 9 to 10 p.m. return of Truth moved up to second place with 141,648 viewers (behind only CBS’ canceled Person of Interest with 155,813).

In the 18-to-49-year-old realm, the first hour of Truth tied for third with NCIS while Buck ran second and the 9 to 10 p.m. hour of Truth took third.

NBC’s third episode of the Maya & Marty comedy-variety hour finished third at 9 p.m. in total viewers (206,236) but won among 18-to-49-year-olds with 38,108.

In the cable universe, TNT’s 8 to 10 p.m. double-episode premiere of the dark drama Animal Kingdom got off slowly with 35,412 and 28,230 total viewers. It had 15,879 and 12,703 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range, although an 11 p.m. repeat scored highest in this measurement with 19,054 viewers.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results.

It was a sweep-a-thon, with three stations sharing in the spoils.

TEGNA8 won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 ran the table at 6 a.m. and NBC5 did likewise at 5 and 6 p.m. CBS11 again ran out of the money.

Gifted with a larger than usual lead-in for its season finale, Real Housewives of Dallas coughed up close to half a million viewers Monday night in the national Nielsen numbers.

Here’s the tale of the tape.

Bravo’s Southern Charm, moved up an hour to 7 p.m., led off prime-time with 1,361,000 viewers and a .5 rating in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old age range.

Then an “uncensored” Real Housewives of Orange County recap special (preceding the show’s official Monday, June 20th return) increased that total to 1,431,000 viewers while retaining a .5 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic.

RHOD followed, but a large number of Americans didn’t. The show fell to 949,000 viewers and a .3 in the 18-to-49 measurement. That’s RHOD’s second biggest crowd of the season after the June 6th episode lured 943,000 viewers. But it’s also by far the show’s biggest drop -- in this case 482,000 viewers. Among Monday’s top 100 cable programs ranked weekly by tvbythenumbers, that plunged RHOD to 67th place in the total viewer ratings.

RHOD limps off the Season One stage as the only show among the eight spinoffs of Orange County to average fewer than 1 million viewers an episode. (Only the April 11th premiere hit the one million mark, but just barely.) Bravo hasn’t officially announced whether it’s a goner, and recasting is always a possibility. But other than RHOD’s star-struck media cheerleaders and perhaps the cast itself, there seems to be little support for a continuation of this full-blown embarrassment.

For the most part, the cat-fighting five principals -- Cary Deuber, Tiffany Hendra, Stephanie Hollman, LeeAnne Locken and Brandi Redmond -- consumed copious amounts of alcohol at pretentious parties and gaudy charity functions that gave giving a bad name. The also talked a lot about poop, with the season finale zooming in on a dollop of dog doo soiling the backyard of Travis and Stephanie Hollman, who threw a big, besotted party tied to the Byron Nelson golf tournament. Part of the course adjoins the Hollmans’ property.

Meanwhile, the volatile LeeAnne fessed up to needing “help with my anger” before having another showdown with smirking, self-important Cary. Fashioning herself an inspirational speaker, LeeAnne also met with media specialist and former Fox4 reporter Jeff Crilley, whose Real News PR specializes in media training among other things.

Crilley laughed it up when LeeAnne told him, “I’m gonna fart glitter until people see it.” He then deluded her into thinking she could make as much as $50 grand per speaking engagement. LeeAnne’s eyes lit up the way Brandi’s do when a glass of “Jesus Juice” -- or any alcohol -- is within easy reach.

It all ended with pals Brandi and Stephanie “spontaneously” jumping into the Hollmans’ pool before Brandi giggled, “Let’s go drink another shot.”

A tacked-on reunion show is scheduled for Sunday, June 19th at 8 p.m. But those typically don’t do as well as the regular season episodes. And RHOD didn’t do well at all in that realm. We leave you with our rankings of the five principals, plus hapless friend Marie Reyes, in order of their loathe-ability.

1. Cary Deuber (with an assist from her consistently odd plastic surgeon husband Mark) -- She caught LeeAnne near the finish line and then surpassed her with a series of haughty talk-to-the-camera digs. Cary is all too reminiscent of the blessed-with-good-looks high school creep who delights in taunting kids with braces, pimples or brains.

2. LeeAnne Locken -- The “carny kid” kept going off her Tilt-A-Whirl, taking offense at every opportunity while flaunting her charity work in a way that would prompt even a Carmelite nun to bitch slap her. Runaway winner of this year’s Thinnest Skin in North Texas trophy.

3. Brandi Redmond -- The former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader alternated between being weepy and getting stinkin’ drunk. Swilling “Jesus Juice” by day or night, she also led the RHOD league in giggly poop talk and wore a fake dog turd atop the bonnet she flaunted at the annual Mad Hatter’s Tea & Luncheon.

4. Stephanie Hollman -- Her grating laugh, which punctuated virtually everything she said to the camera, nearly vaulted this well-kept wife ahead of Brandi, whose early lead proved to be just too much. Stephanie otherwise catered to her rich bidnessman hubby Travis, who kept her in creature comforts while she balked at doing his bidding -- but then did it anyway.

5. Marie Reyes -- Although not an official “housewife,” she hung around the periphery and then demonstrated a strong finishing kick as a fibbing sandbagger but overall suck-up.

6. Tiffany Hendra -- She steadfastly stuck by her best friend, Mount Locken, while also trying to jump start the career of her country singing husband, Aaron. No one on RHOD came off as entirely likable. But Tiffany gave it a good shot -- or maybe it was just the editors.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterThe Cleveland Cavaliers stayed alive, much to the joy of ABC, by beating the Golden State Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday night.

That means at least one more ratings-rich payday for the network, which also used the Finals to bury CBS’ premiere of the competing BrainDead.

Running until 10:50 p.m., Game 5 averaged 495,768 D-FW viewers and 260,407 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old age range. That marked the biggest total viewers haul since Game 1’s 517,015 and tied Friday night’s Game 4 for the second highest number of 18-to-49-year-olds. Game 1 still ranks No. 1 with 288,989 viewers in this key demographic.

CBS’ 9 p.m. launch of the serio-comic political drama BrainDead in contrast drew just 84,989 total viewers and 15,879 in the 18-to-49 realm. That put it last at that hour in both measurements among the Big Four broadcast networks.

NBC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of American Ninja Warrior was Monday’s runner-up TV attraction with 233,719 total viewers and 92,095 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Here are Monday’s local news derby results.

NBC5 won a downsized three-way 10 p.m. race in both total viewers and with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Starting with host James Corden’s solemn reference to the early Sunday a.m. mass shooting at an Orlando, FL gay nightclub, the 70th annual ceremony outdrew all competing prime-time programming in total viewers save for Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast. The three hour, 15 minute telecast, dominated by the musical Hamilton, averaged 191,225 D-FW viewers while narrowly losing the 9 to 10 p.m. hour to Fox4’s news.

Over on NBC, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks drew 113,318 viewers. The Penguins closed out the Sharks 3-1 to win the Cup.

Among advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-olds, the Tonys averaged 50,811 viewers for the full program. In the 9 p.m. hour, Broadway’s best fell short of Fox4’s news (60,338 viewers) and tied a repeat of ABC’s Celebrity Family Feud.

Saturday’s early evening telecast of the Belmont Stakes on NBC drew 177,060 total viewers during the 15-minute window in which the race was run. Part One of O.J.: Made In America, which opened on ABC before switching to ESPN for the final four parts, won its 8 to 10 p.m. slot with 99,154 total viewers and 38,108 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Friday night’s Game 4 of ABC’s NBA Finals, which was close most of the way and ended at 10:51 p.m., averaged 453,274 total viewers and 260,407 in the 18-to-49 age range. Those numbers were up from the 410,779 total viewers and 196,893 in the 18-to-49 realm for Game 3’s blowout win by the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Golden State Warriors. But the Warriors now lead the series three games to one after their hard-fought win in Game 4.

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

At 10 p.m., soccer and the NBA Finals respectively delayed the local news on Fox4 and TEGNA8. NBC5 won a two-way competition with CBS11 in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions and NBC5 did likewise at 6 p.m. in a three-way race that left Fox4 out of the mix due to soccer. Fox4 and the Peacock tied for the most total viewers at 5 p.m. while NBC5 was alone on top with 25-to-54-year-olds.

This time the Cleveland Cavaliers turned the tables and stun-gunned the Golden State Warriors by 30 points in Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

It was the third straight rout. And the D-FW numbers again dropped, with 410,779 total viewers and 196,893 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49 age range. No competing program came close, but the Finals started with 517,015 total viewers and 288,989 in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic before Game 2 slipped to 488,686 total viewers and 244,529 in the 18-to-49 realm.

On Fox Sports Southwest, the first-place Texas Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the visiting Houston Astros had respective totals of 205,390 and 85,744 viewers. Both were good enough for a second place finish in Wednesday’s prime-time parade.

Thursday afternoon’s Rangers-Astros series finale also on FSS, showed the difference between night and day ratings -- at least when it’s a workday game. The Rangers’ 5-3 win had 77,906 total viewers and 28,581 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Prime-time’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins drew 92,071 viewers on NBC, with 34,933 of them in the 18-to-49 age range. Thursday night’s leader was Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast, which had respective hauls of 184,142 and 79,393 viewers.

Here are the Wednesday-Thursday local news derby results.

Wednesday -- The Game 3 NBA Finals overrun made it a three-way competition at 10 p.m., with NBC5 winning in total viewers and tying CBS11 for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and also won at 5 p.m. in total viewers while TEGNA8 drew the most 25-to-54-year-olds.

The 6 p.m. golds went to TEGNA8 in total viewers and NBC5 in the 25-to-54-year-old measurement.

Thursday -- Two stations collected all the spoils. Fox4 swept the 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. battles and also had the most 25-to-54-year-olds at 5 p.m.

No further embellishment is needed, though, for Thursday night’s sold out event at the downtown Dallas Sixth Floor Museum. The Press Club of Dallas’ sixth annual North Texas Legends event drew a capacity crowd of 150, a dozen of whom wore yellow roses of Texas to signify them as this year’s honorees. The 13th of this esteemed group, Fort Worth-based author and former Star-Telegram book editor Jeff Guinn, belatedly was unable to attend due to health issues. But previous honoree Carlton Stowers ably stood in for him.

NBC5 anchor-reporter Kristi Nelson enthusiastically hosted for the second straight year, with each inductee speaking individually and adding to the list of 69 fellow members of what amounts to a Hall of Fame for the region’s enduring media standouts. Besides Stowers, previous honorees in attendance included Hugh Aynesworth (who would get a major surprise at the close of the ceremony), Carolyn Barta, Gloria Campos, John Gudjohnsen, Jimmy Lovell, Bob Mong, Rena Pederson, Bob Ray Sanders and Bobbie Wygant.

(Campos in particular stood up for honoree John McCaa after station management at his longtime employer, WFAA-TV (now owned by TEGNA), declined to do so. More on this in the “Epilogue” below.)

Press Club president Frank Librio saved the night’s most rousing moment until last. A 2007 scandal had torpedoed the non-profit organization’s annual Katie Awards and prompted many journalists to shy away from becoming members.

“It’s been too long,” Librio said. “The actions of one rogue person (former Press Club president Elizabeth Albanese) do not define our club. We define our club. And tonight we are going to give it new definition and new purpose.”

This was prelude to the esteemed Aynesworth, now 84, being named as the first recipient of the Hugh Aynesworth Award for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. “Goodbye, Katie. Hello, Hughey!” Librio declared.

Aynesworth, who had not been apprised of this by his fellow Press Club board members (including your friendly content provider), took the stage to a prolonged ovation after Librio said this will be a lone annual award for starters, with more categories “very likely” established in future years.

“I’m very pleased the club is back,” Aynesworth said. “We’re doing some things that are exciting. We’re doing some things that are worthwhile.”

This included the 13 previous awards accepted during a night in which a number of the recipients were honored in the presence of family members and close friends. In the alphabetical order in which they took the stage, here’s a highlight reel:

A combined 80+ years on camera: Bob Phillips and David Finfrock.

NORMA ADAMS-WADE (retired trailblazing columnist-reporter for The Dallas Morning News and founding member, in 1975, of the National Association of Black Journalists) -- She’s proud to be a modern-day “griot,” which in western Africa connotes storytellers who pass along the oral histories of their people.

And although she’s done her share of investigative reporting for the newspaper she joined in 1974, “what I truly enjoy is shining a positive light on other people,” Adams-Wade said. Being honored as a North Texas Legend means “I am not a voice crying hopelessly in the wilderness. You’ve convinced me that I’ve been heard.”

FIL ALVARADO (Fox4 street reporter for 31 years) -- Many people tell him they watched him since they were kids, Alvarado said. “At least they’re still watching,” he added. “I think I’m working on my third generation now.”

Pounding the pavement day after day has not beaten him down, Alvarado said. Instead he advised, “Pick your head up once in a while and take a look at all the people who support you.”

STEVE BLOW (retired featured Metro columnist for The Dallas Morning News) -- He gets this all the time. Is that your real name? His response: “Would I make that up?”

Blow said he also questioned whether he was “born to be a columnist or a porn star.” But he soon deduced that an engineering degree from the University of North Texas would be a fruitless pursuit because of one word -- “calculus.”

Blow credited the aforementioned Mong, the former Dallas Morning News editor, with cajoling him to be a columnist. He ended up writing some 3,000 of them, leading to his now legendary status.

“It was only when I saw the other 12 names that the depth of this honor kicked in,” Blow said.

SANDRA BROWN (romance-suspense novelist with more than 60 books on The New York Times bestseller list) -- “I’m the biggest fraud that will cross this stage tonight, because most of you kept your jobs,” Brown began.

She referred to her short stint as a PM Magazine reporter for WFAA-TV before the station manager told her, ”Your limited talent in this capacity is no longer desired.”

At the urging of her husband of 48 years, former TV news anchor and documentary filmmaker Michael Brown, she began writing novels. “And it turned out OK,” she noted. So every time she has another bestseller, Brown said she toasts the WFAA boss who fired her.

JO ANN HOLT CAUSSEY (former “women’s editor” of the Oak Cliff Tribune who founded her own public relations agency in 1984) -- “I can’t believe I’m following Sandra Brown,” she said. “I should be getting her autograph.”

Holt otherwise was short and sweet, crediting former Press Club members with schooling her in the PR trade after finding it impossible to make ends meet as a community newspaper reporter. She’s now freelancing as an arts, entertainment and travel reporter.

DAVID FINFROCK (chief meteorologist for NBC5 since 1991) -- As the station previously announced, he plans to retire in May 2018 at age 65 when his current contract expires. But “they seem open to the idea of me coming back and maybe helping out with severe storms,” Finfrock said almost longingly. This time, though, “I want to do it on my schedule, not the boss’s.”

Handpicked in 1975 by the late, legendary Harold Taft, Finfrock noted that his paychecks for the first two years came directly from Taft, not the station. He lobbied for a change in the Legends awards that would accommodate posthumous honorees in future years.

Former sports radio antagonists Mike Rhyner and Randy Galloway.

RANDY GALLOWAY (retired Star-Telegram sports columnist and sports talk host on ESPN Dallas) -- Galloway easily spoke the longest, but also was the funniest. His failure to graduate from the University of North Texas wasn’t due to partying or drinking, but “just flat stupidity,” he emphasized.

Lampooning himself throughout, Galloway said the best advice he received as an apprentice sports writer was to stop copying the style of “my hero,” the late Blackie Sherrod. Ordered to find a voice of his own, he complied and later took it to the realm of sports talk radio, where his deep Texas drawl clashed with the other smoothies.

“I’ve got a radio face, but I don’t have a radio voice,” Galloway said.

Now fully disengaged from professional sports opining, he has no intent to get back in the saddle. “In retirement I do nothing. I’m very good at doing nothing. And I don’t start until noon.”

CARLTON STOWERS ON BEHALF OF JEFF GUINN -- Stowers recalled the time his old friend wrote an obligatory “Christmas Story” for the Star-Telegram back when newspapers just had to have a new one each season. So he researched the life of Santa Claus, put a little story in print and then was encouraged by a publisher to turn it into a full-fledged book.

Guinn adamantly refused until he was vacuuming one day and heard a voice that said, “You are right to believe in me.” He supposedly rushed upstairs and began working on the book that became The Autobiography of Santa Claus, which remains a seasonal favorite to this day.

Stowers said he has no idea if this story is really true, but that Guinn swears by it. In more recent years, he’s penned a series of true-crime tomes, the latest on Charles Manson. But Christmas books remained in his earlier repertoire, including a companion autobiography of Mrs. Claus.

Honoree Sylvia Komatsu & longtime KERA colleague Yolette Garcia.

SYLVIA KOMATSU (KERA program developer and now executive vice president/content officer) -- Komatsu said she first got the news of her Legends award from Aynesworth’s wife, Paula, who exuded her usual enthusiasm before pausing and adding, “Now Sylvia, don’t worry. This does not mean that you’re old.”

Komatsu, who long has worked behind the scenes to make others look good, accepted on behalf of all her KERA colleagues.

“This is very much a shared and collective award,” she said. “Aren’t we lucky to be able to do work that we love and we find meaningful?”

JOHN McCAA (anchor-reporter for WFAA-TV) -- Host Nelson set this up by noting that in her formative years, McCaa was the first to return her phone call in connection with a story on minority journalists. It inspired her, she said, to continue in the business.

McCaa was a pre-teen in Madrid, Spain (where his dad was stationed while in the military) on the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He never envisioned someday making his mark in Dallas and said he likely wouldn’t have been hired back then because “people who look like me” were basically invisible in local TV news rooms of the early 1960s.

He worries about the “direction” of current-day TV newscasts after experiencing WFAA at the height of its powers when he arrived from Omaha, Neb. in the mid-1980s.

McCaa said he’ll likely retire in “a couple of years” after earning a Ph.D in philosophy last year from the University of Texas at Dallas. “And I’m truly looking forward to getting up at noon.”

BOB PHILLIPS (host of Texas Country Reporter) -- He was just 18 years old when the late Eddie Barker first hired him at KDFW-TV (Channel 4). Just a few years later, Phillips got permission to do a 4 Country Reporter special for the station. It was strictly intended to boost ratings in the so-called hinterlands within Channel 4’s viewing area, Phillips said. But both management and many viewers liked the finished product. And so it began.

“The great Eddie Barker changed my life, and I think about it all the time,” said Phillips, who now hosts the statewide-syndicated Texas Country Reporter with his wife, Kelli Phillips. “We have followers around the world, and it still blows my mind.”

MIKE RHYNER (co-founder of KTCK (“The Ticket”) and principal host of the radio station’s The Hardline since that time) -- Usually hard-shelled and impervious to sentimentality, Rhyner said for starters, “I am absolutely blown away by this.” And damned if he didn’t seem to really mean it.

He then praised Phillips, who “invented Texana before anyone knew what that was.” And after going “pretty hard” at Galloway, whom The Ticket ridiculed as “Grandpa Urine” during his time as WBAP radio’s lead sports talk dog, “I hope we’re cool with one another,” Rhyner said, because Galloway in reality taught him more about baseball than anyone before or since.

Above all, people with media platforms should always be aware that what they say and report impacts a lot of people, Rhyner said. “Don’t ever think the stories . . . don’t matter. Because they absolutely do.”

DAVID WEBB (former columnist-reporter for Dallas Voice, a weekly newspaper for the city’s LGBT community) -- It can be tough to be last alphabetically in these circumstances, and “everything I’ve heard tonight is a lot to follow,” Webb said.

He’s covered just about everything -- except sports -- during a career that also took him to The Dallas Times-Herald and The Dallas Observer.

“Somebody once wanted me to cover a football game,” Webb recalled. “And I said, ‘You’re going to have to tell me a little about the game.’ “

The outbreak of the AIDS epidemic convinced Webb that someone had to step in and cover the devastating consequences. And he took it from there.

“I never planned on being a specialist in LGBT issues,” he said. “It just kind of worked out.”

Most of the new Legends en masse after Thursday’s acceptances.

EPILOGUE -- Led by former anchor Gloria Campos, the WFAA troops -- past and present -- turned out for honoree John McCaa Thursday night.

It’s a good thing they did, because in the first year that sponsorships for the event were sought, WFAA management stiffed one of their most enduring and stalwart news anchors.

This was no shakedown attempt. Events such as these are costly to put on in a first-class manner. And the Press Club of Dallas (of which your friendly content provider is both a first-year board member and on this year’s three-member Legends selection committee) is a non-profit organization that’s still looking to re-establish itself as a respectable, trustworthy organization. Any leftover proceeds from Thursday’s North Texas Legends ceremony will be for journalism scholarships and to help fund further worthy events.

That said, a sponsorship of this year’s Legends gathering cost $250 and included three tickets (otherwise priced at $25 for members/$30 for non-members), logo displays at the event itself and in the official program, and mention in publicity materials.

The idea is to approach media entities with strong connections to those being honored, although Baylor Scott & White and Whole Foods Market stepped in as sponsors because they wanted to be a part of the event. Board members Cary Broussard and Niki McCuistion also purchased sponsorships on behalf of their communications companies.

I ended up being the solicitor (a throwback Willy Loman but with more success) with most of D-FW’s major newspapers and television and radio stations. And they soon, and sometimes almost instantly, signed on.

Press Club board colleague Michael Grant, who works as director of marketing and strategic planning for Phillips MediaSource, obtained a sponsorship for Bob Phillips.

Grant also approached The Dallas Morning News and secured a sponsorship for Steve Blow and Norma Adams-Wade.

That left WFAA8, where Grant was station manager from 1989-90 and also president and general manager of Belo Productions from 1993-95, long before Belo sold off all of its television stations, including Dallas-based WFAA.

Putting it mildly, my relationship with WFAA management -- unlike that with any other local TV station -- is chilly at best and usually frozen solid. They don’t like some of the things I’ve written about them. So be it. Rival stations aren’t always thrilled either. It’s the price of being an independent voice without any “content-sharing” ties to anyone.

But there was no need to poison the pond in this case. So Grant agreed to approach WFAA -- to no avail. He repeatedly emailed station executives asking for a simple yes or no answer on a sponsorship for McCaa. Grant says he never got that answer -- one way or the other. He only received confirmation that his initial email had been received.

Apprised of this, Campos volunteered without any urging to be her former co-anchor’s ad hoc sponsor. As a Press Club member, she already had bought two tickets on her own -- for herself and husband Lance Brown. She used her additional three sponsorship tickets to invite WFAA investigative reporter Brett Shipp, his fiancee, and WFAA police reporter Rebecca Lopez, all of whom were at Thursday’s Legends event.

WFAA Daybreak co-anchor Ron Corning also attended in support of McCaa, as did former WFAA photographers John Gudjohnsen (a previous honoree) and Tom Loveless, who recently took a station buyout.

Fox4 and NBC5 respectively included video of Alvarado’s and Finfrock’s inductions on their late night Thursday newscasts. WFAA also had brief coverage, with McCaa returning to the 10 p.m. newscast in time to see and hear the on-air kudos from his colleagues. None of them, save for McCaa, likely knew of their station’s indifference -- or cheapness -- at the management level.

But now all of you readers know. And so do McCaa’s co-workers. Campos’ name both appeared in the program and on-screen at the Legends event. WFAA’s logo very noticeably did not.

Among the 69 inductees before McCaa took his rightful place, eight of them made their reputations at WFAA. More Legends are likely to come. Once upon a time, they made WFAA what it once used to be in times when station management assuredly would have stepped up to support them with a sponsorship on a night that singled them out as all-time greats.

John McCaa deserved far better from WFAA. And it’s both a shame -- and shameful -- that the opportunity is now lost forever. Meanwhile, let’s have the below enduring image of Hugh Aynesworth have the last word. He’s the most deserving of all.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterThe first-place Texas Rangers are rolling and Fox Sports Southwest also is running up the score.

Monday and Tuesday nights’ home wins over the arch rival Houston Astros sent FSS to the top of the prime-time charts.

The Monday game was especially dominant, averaging 269,131 D-FW viewers and 101,622 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic. That comfortably beat all Monday programming, including ABC’s 7 to 9 p.m. edition of The Bachelorette, starring Dallasite JoJo Fletcher. It had 191,225 total viewers and 88,920 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Tuesday night’s Rangers win tied NBC’s two-hour America’s Got Talent for the most total viewers with 226,637. But the North Texas 9 had a far higher peak audience, ballooning to 361,202 viewers for the closing 9:45 to 10 p.m. segment. The Rangers beat all programming in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, averaging 85,744 viewers with a peak of 149,258 for the game’s final 15 minutes.

In contrast, Fox’s 8 p.m. hour of the dating show Coupled was Tuesday’s prime-time loss leader with just 42,494 total viewers and 19,054 (tying CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans repeat) in the 18-to-49 realm.

Here are the local news derby results.

Monday -- TEGNA8 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while Fox4 was tops with 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 swept the 6 a.m. competitions before NBC5 came up big by running the ratings table at both 5 and 6 p.m.

Tuesday -- TEGNA8 again ran first at 10 p.m. in total viewers and added a win with 25-to-54-year-olds.

Fox4 had twin wins at 6 a.m. and likewise swept the 5 p.m. races. NBC5 won both of the 6 p.m. golds.

Local news note: CBS11’s 6 and 10 p.m. weeknight co-anchor, Kaley O’Kelley, will be a guest host on the Thursday, July 14th edition of CBS’ The Talk, which airs at 1 p.m. in D-FW. The show is featuring local CBS anchors during that entire week.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterAlcohol-soaked and also rich in poop nutrients, Monday’s Episode 9 of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Dallas continues to stink it up in the national ratings. But not as much as usual in the last two weeks.

In this one, the principals took a fractious road trip to Austin organized by the oft-besotted Brandi “Jesus Juice” Redmond. It drew 943,000 viewers, the series’ highest total since the premiere hour had 1,076,000. Episode 8 drew 899,000 viewers. Just one episode remains in RHOD’s inaugural season before the tacked-on June 20th “reunion” show.

RHOD still ranks as by far the least-watched show among the nine in Real Housewives franchise history. And its Monday night lead-in, Southern Charm, continues to draw significantly larger crowds. Monday night’s hour had 1,275,000 viewers before RHOD lost 332,000 of them. In the advertiser-craved 18-to-49-year-old demographic, Southern Charm had a .5 rating and RHOD a .4.

Among Monday’s top 100 cable shows, RHOD finished a lowly 74th in total viewers according to the weekly tabulations by tvbythenumbers. So a Season 2 remains very iffy. And in terms of the images these women are projecting . . . well, Dallas perhaps would rather have a big pile of longhorn dung as its ambassador.

Speaking of that, things began heading south quickly on the mini-bus heading south to Austin, where the husbands of Brandi and her cackling pal Stephanie Hollman supposedly built a nice house for getaways.

“It’s never too early to be drinkin’ when you’re goin’ to Austin, Texas,” Stephanie reasoned. And so they did, with Brandi peeing on board before talk again turned to the time that combustible LeeAnne Locken crapped her pants -- or took a dump in a sack (or something). RHOD yet again recycled the clip of a ratty little guy named Taylor regaling LeeAnne’s foes with this story, which he supposedly heard from LeeAnne’s longtime friend, Marie Reyes.

LeeAnne, who has shared this information only with Marie and her other gal pal, Tiffany Hendra, quickly shifted into mortified mode. “I’m so hurt,” she told the camera. I can literally feel my heart leaking into my gut.”

True story: RHOD then immediately yielded to a commercial for a bladder leakage product.

Finally at the getaway house, Brandi soon declared herself “super drunk” and later fell off her chair before LeeAnne went bat shit in the middle of the night at Marie and threatened to kill her. Cary Deuber happily oozed more sarcasm to the camera after being suitably appalled and perhaps even terrified by LeeAnne’s latest apocalypse now. Then everyone went to a posh spa and later to a very uncomfortable dinner at Bob’s Steak and Chop House. In an amazing show of restraint, the restaurant’s trademark giant carrots did not make an appearance. Imagine what Brandi might have done with one of ‘em. Missed opportunity.

By the way, weepy Marie again went crawling back to LeeAnne, prompting Stephanie to lob this line into play: “She takes it up the ass all the time. And then she asks for a hug after.”

A tease for next Monday’s season (and very possibly series finale) shows that the poor Byron Nelson golf tournament will be among the venues at the mercy of RHOD. The great deceased gentleman no doubt would rather 10-putt a green than be witness to any of this. Sand traps beware. Because on this bottom-scraping show, a girl’s gotta go when she’s gotta go.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterThe Golden State Warriors’ 33-point wipeout of the Cleveland Cavaliers not surprisingly took some of the air out of the D-FW ratings for Sunday night’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

But the game still dominated all competing programming, averaging 488,686 total viewers and 244,529 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-old demographic. Game 1, also on ABC, had 517,015 total viewers, with 288,89 in the 18-to-49 age range.

Over on Fox Sunday night, the three-hour Miss USA pageant had 120,401 total viewers to rank as the No. 1 network TV draw in that measurement. But Fox4’s local 9 p.m. newscast, with the first half-hour opposite the NBA Finals, trampolined to 219,554 viewers.

NBC’s American Ninja Warriors fared the best among network programs in the 18-to-49 realm (57,163 viewers). But the local news on Fox again easily trumped that with 88,920 viewers in this key demographic.

Saturday’s prime-time Rangers game on FSS led all of that day’s TV attractions in day or night with 226,637 total viewers. Friday night’s Rangers game also had more total viewers than anything else (219,5554).

Here are Friday’s local news derby results.

TEGNA8 led at 10 p.m. in total viewers but NBC5 ran first among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 topped the 6 a.m. race in total viewers and tied the Peacock for the top spot with 25-to-54-year-olds. Fox4 ran the table at 6 p.m.

The 5 p.m. competition for total viewers ended in a first-place tie between Fox4 and NBC5. The Peacock had the 25-to-54 gold to itself.

News director Mark Ginther informed staffers on Monday that her last day will be Friday of this week. The announcement reportedly came as a surprise.

In his memo, Ginther said that Dewberry is “passionate about consumer reporting,” but likewise is “passionate about anchoring. And we’ve allowed her to pursue such a job . . . Her hard work and commitment to consumer issues has educated our viewers, helped shape new legislation and helped us toward our goal of becoming the consumer leader in our market.”

Ginther said that station management “warmly wish her well as she pursues what is best for her growing family.”

Dewberry and her husband, Gary, have three children.

She so far has not returned a message asking for comment. The 1992 University of Texas at Austin graduate joined NBC5 in October 2012 from CBS affiliate WISH-TV in Indianapolis, where she had worked since 2005 after spending seven years as an anchor/reporter for WFAA-TV (now TEGNA8) and the now defunct, Dallas-based Texas Cable News Network. She is a survivor of leukemia and two bouts with breast cancer, the most recent in 2011.

Dewberry lately has been part of the NBC5 Responds team and is an 11-time Emmy winner, according to her station bio.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterReporter Yona Gavino has joined CBS11 and currently is working the early morning news shift after arriving in May.

Gavino, who most recently spent three years at Milwaukee’s WTMJ-TV, replaces Arezow Doost, who resigned from CBS11 in February. Before that she worked as a “one-man-band bureau reporter” for WLUC-TV in Negaunee, Michigan after serving as a production assistant at WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama.

The Florida native has a broadcast journalism degree from the University of West Florida and is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Her bio also says that Gavino “spent years as a competitive ballroom dancer and is a Krav Maga practitioner. Because of this, Yona can dance and fight! But her true joy is storytelling.”

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterABC scored big-time Thursday night with Game 1 of the star-powered NBA Finals between the defending champ Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Their rematch, won 104-89 by the Warriors and running from 8:11 to 10:35 p.m., averaged 517,015 D-FW viewers and 288,989 in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age range. No pro sports championship lures a higher percentage of “desirable” viewers than the NBA. And anything over 50 percent -- which Game 1 easily exceeded -- is considered exceptional these days.

Last June’s Game 1 of the Finals between Golden State and Cleveland fell considerably short of this year’s with 404,492 total viewers and 214,458 in the 18-to-49 demographic. And that was a much closer overtime game won by the Warriors.

Among the programs airing directly opposite basketball, Fox4’s 9 p.m. local newscast fared the best with 162,895 total viewers. The news and CBS’ 8 p.m. repeat of Mom tied for the runner-up spot among 18-to-49-year-olds with 44,460 apiece.

Jimmy Kimmel’s 7 to 7:30 p.m. pre-game entertainment show drew 113,318 total viewers and 47,636 in the 18-to-49 realm. In both cases, it lost its time slot to CBS’ competing repeat of The Big Bang Theory (respective crowds of 247,884 and 73,041 viewers). The first half of Fox’s Bones also beat Kimmel in total viewers with 191,225).

On Wednesday, the return of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior led all prime-time programming with 212,472 total viewers and 95,271 in the 18-to-49 age range.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterThe Memorial Day ratings for cable TV attractions were slow in coming because of the holiday weekend. And when they finally did arrive, your friendly content provider looked in vain for the usual lower region ranking of Real Housewives of Dallas among the top 100 programs tabulated by tvbythenumbers.com.

A call to a source at tvbythenumbers solved the mystery. For the first time since its April 11th premiere, RHOD ranked entirely out of the top 100 in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, which is how the website ranks its daily menu of cable offerings. It had a rounded off .3 rating that this time around computed to 422,000 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range. The 100th-ranked attraction (not sure what that was) had 425,000 viewers. So it was close, but no “Jesus Juice.”

On the other hand, RHOD drew 899,000 total viewers to rank an overall 80th among cable attractions. And while that still wasn’t much of a crowd, it was RHOD’s biggest haul since Episode 2 drew 920,000 viewers. The low mark is still 789,000 viewers for Episode 5. Episode 7 had 883,000, with only the premiere hour straying into one million viewers territory with 1,076,000.

Episode 8 pretty much centered on giggly Stephanie Hollman’s husband, Travis, demanding another big blowout for his birthday. So she arranged a “Great Gatsby”-themed party at a local club before climactically popping out of a cake for hubby back at their palatial home. Before any of this happened, Stephanie fretted that all of the stress she was under could result in “pooper pants.” It’s already been established that this woman can expertly pass gas upon request. So that would have been quite a blowout. But no.

RHOD’s future on Bravo remains very iffy. As previously noted, it’s the only one of the nine Real Housewives franchises to average less than one million total viewers per episode. Cripes, all NINE! Memorial Day repeats in USA network’s Chrisly Knows Best marathon drew more total viewers and more 18-to-49-year-olds than the latest new RHOD.

Next week’s episode will follow the five principals and designated friend Marie Reyes to Austin via a road trip “spontaneously” arranged at the Gatsby party by a once again over-served Brandi Redmond. As you can see from the above Bravo tease, the former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader gets blasted again. Which doesn’t set/sit well with volcanic LeeAnne Locken after -- damn! -- the two of them had just made up.

Only 10 episodes of RHOD, plus a climactic “reunion” hour, have been ordered for Season One. Anything’s possible, but at the moment it looks as though that June 20th get-together could be the last chance for Brandi to get bombed -- on TV at least.

By ED BARK@unclebarkycom on TwitterNBC segued effortlessly Tuesday night from The Voice to the latest season premiere of America’s Got Talent.

Newly fortified with a notably softer Simon Cowell in place of Howard Stern, AGT dominated in D-FW from 7 to 9 p.m. with 347,038 viewers and 88,920 in the advertiser-prized 18-to-49-year-old demographic. That’s a lousy percentage of “desirable” viewers, but a win’s a win.

The Peacock’s premiere of Maya & Marty, starring May Rudolph and Martin Short in a variety/comedy format, also won at 9 p.m. with 63,514 viewers in the 18-to-49 age range. But Fox4’s local newscast took the hour in total viewers (226,637) while M&M (162,835 viewers) slipped to third behind a new episode of CBS’ Person of Interest (198,307), which has been canceled.

Fox’s 7 p.m. episode of Hotel Hell flexed the biggest percentage-wise bang among 18-to-49-year-olds, drawing 50,811 compared to a total viewership of 99,154.

On Fox Sports Southwest, the Texas Rangers’ road win at Cleveland averaged 155,813 total viewers and 53,987 in the 18-to-49 demographic.

Here are Tuesday’s local news derby results:

CBS11 had the most total viewers at 10 p.m. while NBC5 won among 25-to-54-year-olds (main advertiser target audience for news programming).

Fox4 logged twin wins at 6 a.m. and also swept the 6 p.m. competitions. The 5 p.m. firsts went to NBC5 in total viewers and Fox4 among 25-to-54-year-olds.